ON Sundays Politics West, Siobhan Baillie made a poor job of defending her party’s willingness to accept £10,000,000 from a man the Prime Minister himself was forced to acknowledge had used racist, misogynistic and downright dangerous language.

Commenting on Frank Hester’s remarks, Theo Paphitis – the retail magnate on Dragon’s Den – said, I thought there was a law against incitement to violence.

But Ms Baillie dreamt up two ridiculous reasons why the money shouldn’t be returned.

Can it be morally right, she asked, to make such a despicable millionaire even richer?

Her second line of defence was, and I quote – “Once money comes into a political party it’s usually spent!”

In other words – I’m sorry, but it’s too late. This is disingenuous.

For if Hestor’s £10m really has already all been spent, then the Tories could simply pledge that next £10m that comes their way will be donated to Charity – ideally shared amongst hostels providing refuge for women fleeing domestic violence.

Such a use of £10m would be money far better spent than wasting it on advertising campaigns aimed at stopping the Tories from being decimated at the next General Election.

Ms Baillie must sense this is true. After all, she has often praised the work, so sadly necessary, of countless charities alleviating suffering in this wonderful country of ours.

Anthony Hentschel

Nailsworth